SUKAUTO - WOMENSWEAR - RITTENHOUSE

RITTENHOUSE (AU)

Australia's fashion mavericks are known for pushing the envelope, and the design team behind Rittenhouse is happy to comply. Merging ethereal design with fine fabrics and slick graphics, Sally MacDonald and Micah Hamdorf manage to create everyday basics that are smartly tempered with skewed detailing. The story goes back to 1997, when the two met through friends in Melbourne. "We fell in love, then left the country separately to go to New York and London," says MacDonald. "Eventually we ended up back together in Philadelphia, pregnant, and eating cheese steaks!" It was in Philly's Rittenhouse Square that their label was born. After returning home to Sydney, the couple settled into a "ghetto style basement/loading dock" that was the former home to Paramount Studios. Here, amid a rotating soundtrack of reggae, the two design classic collections for both men and women that are tinged with street-smart flourishes.